Fairfax Media sent detailed questions to the government about the claims that asylum seekers had their hands deliberately burned.

The first set of questions was sent at 5.45pm on Wednesday.

1. What steps did the ADF take to investigate the claims by asylum-seekers that their hands were deliberately burned by members by being forced to touch or hold a hot pipe from the boat’s engine?

2. What investigations were made into claims asylum-seekers were punched and kicked?

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3. Are ADF members equipped with capsicum spray for boarding asylum-seeker vessels and, if so, what are the rules for its use?

4. Was the commander of the navy vessel that carried out the interception and turn-back around January 6 asked to provide a report?

5. Was the leader of the boarding party that took control of the asylum-seeker vessel asked to provide a report?

6. Was the boarding and the turnback operation filmed and if so have Defence investigators or senior officers reviewed that footage?

7. Have the Indonesian police made any requests to Defence for help with their enquiries - or has Defence made any offer of help to Indonesian police?

8. Has the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service had any involvement in investigating the claims?

9. If not, who made the decision that the ADF could safely disregard the allegations as being untrue?

The second set of questions was sent at 8.30am on Thursday.

1. Did Navy members restrict access to the toilet after they had taken command of the asylum-seeker boat?

2. Is it standard procedure to hold most or all of the passengers on an asylum seeker vessel in the main cabin?

3. Was there a confrontation on the third or fourth day of the operation over access to the toilet and the general treatment of the asylum seekers?

4. Was a Sudanese man named Yousef Ibrahim Fasher acting as translator between the Navy members and asylum seekers?

5. Was an asylum seeker sprayed with capsicum spray causing him to fall and burn his hand on the hot exhaust pipe?

6. Did Navy members grab the wrists of three asylum-seekers and one by one force their hands on to the hot pipe?

7. Is it the ADF's contention that the men had already suffered burns to their hands before Navy intercepted the asylum seeker boat? Or that the injuries were all accidents caused during scuffles or altercations?

8. Was any asylum seeker called a "monkey from Africa"?

9. Can the ADF say with certainty that no asylum seeker fell overboard from the vessel shortly before it was intercepted?

10. Did the Navy vessel carrying out the turn back turn off its lights for the last night or two nights of they operation and if so why?

11. Has the ADF sought to interview any of the asylum seekers involved in these claims or get access to the interview recordings or transcripts from Indonesian police?

12. Can the ADF provide Fairfax Media with the film or video recording of the operation?

Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison provided the following response at 5.45pm on Thursday.

“The Government does not give credibility to malicious and unfounded slurs being made against our Navy personnel and rejects outright any allegations of unprofessional conduct by our people serving in Operation Sovereign Borders. If media outlets wish to give credibility by publishing such unsubstantiated claims, that is a matter for them.

"I know and trust that our Navy and Customs and Border Protection Service act in accordance with their training and lawful orders and would only use force where necessary and appropriate to deal with threatening and non-compliant behaviour, as appropriate.

"There are clear rules and guidelines to govern their behaviour and use of force and they are well trained to act in accordance with these rules. I’ll back their professionalism and integrity every day over the self-serving claims of those unhappy that they were denied what the people smugglers promised them.”

"It is also not the Government's policy to give people smugglers a 'how to guide' on our operations by providing responses on the issues raised. To do so would put both the people who protect our borders and the operations that are successfully stopping the boats at risk.

“The government is aware of reports on Tuesday 7 January 2014, of claims that four people may have fallen overboard from a suspected illegal entry vessel inside Australian waters.

"These claims were rigorously assessed and acted on at the time they were made, and I am confident that they were not true.

"It is important to note that the claimed incident occurred well before the suspected illegal entry vessel had been intercepted by Australian authorities.

"For operational security reasons, the government will not go into further detail on this matter."